Room151’s 2nd Housing151

Joanne has worked across the UK for central, regional, and local government, for housing associations and a national social justice charity, driving transformation and the delivery of better outcomes for people, places and the planet. At LB Enfield as well as the housing agenda she leads a large-scale, housing-led growth and regeneration project, and the levelling up of the three wards of Edmonton. LB Enfield is also co-lead Borough for the London Council’s pan-London Climate Change programme for warmer and greener homes through housing retrofit. And Joanne is also co-chair of the London Housing Directors Network.

Fiona was appointed as L&Q’s Chief Executive in September 2020. A chartered surveyor, with almost 30 years’ experience in the housing sector, Fiona has worked in a variety of voluntary and public sector roles including advising homeless people in Dublin, housing management, development and regeneration, strategy and policy development.

Fiona was previously L&Q’s Director of Development and Sales, spearheading a £5.1 billion development programme. Whilst in this role, Fiona led on our development and strategic land programmes, including landmark projects such as the 10,800-home Barking Riverside development. She also oversaw the group’s expansion beyond the South-East and delivered change programmes to improve both the efficiency and diversity of our Development and Sales function.

Prior to joining L&Q, Fiona was Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment at the Greater London Authority (GLA). As part of their senior management team, Fiona was responsible for overseeing the delivery and implementation of key strategies such as the London Plan and overseeing the operation of the Mayor’s powers in relation to significant planning applications in the capital.

Fiona is the current chair of trustees at the Centre for London, helping the capital’s think tank to meet their charitable objectives.

Lara Oyedele, the current President of the Chartered Institute of Housing, is passionate about eliminating homelessness and promoting diversity in leadership. Her presidential campaign is promoting ethnic and racial diversity in the boardrooms of housing organisations, while also encouraging the donation of shoes to the Charity Shoe Aid which provides shoes for homeless families and families living in poverty.  

Originally trained as a journalist, she has over 30 years’ experience working in housing associations, local authorities, private sector housing management companies and homelessness charities. A former Housing Association CEO, Lara was founding Chair of, and creative force behind, BMENational, the coalition promoting ethnic minority housing associations in England.  She was also central to the development of Migrant Rights housing information website https://www.housing-rights.info/index.php  

Lara is chair of homelessness charity, Hope Housing (Bradford) and a Non-Exec Director of Housing 21. Lara runs the training company Black on Board whose aim is to increase diverse representation on boards. She is also developing an affordable housing company.  She loves shoes, tea and Eastenders.

Omar Al-Hasso is the Managing Director of Phi Capital Investments, with over 20 years’ experience in housing delivery. He is a Chartered Surveyor (Investment and Finance) and holds an MSc in Property Investment from the College of Estate Management. Within the business, Omar leads on bridging the communication and thinking gaps between the public sector and the private sector. Completely committed to finding a better way of doing things, he believes that through collaborative partnerships the affordable housing crisis can genuinely be solved. Last year, Omar led the process of helping Phi become a fully Certified B Corporation, cementing Phi’s commitment to using business as a force for good.

Janice Morphet is an independent researcher, Visiting Professor in the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London and is a Design Council Built Environment Expert. Janice was a member of the Planning Committee of the London 2012 Olympic Games. She was a Senior Adviser on local government at DCLG 2000-2005, having been Chief Executive of Rutland CC, Director of Technical Services at Woking, and Professorial Head of the School of Planning and Landscape at Birmingham Polytechnic. Janice has been a trustee of the RTPI and TCPA.

With more than twenty-six years of experience in housing across seven London Councils, Hakeem is currently Director of Housing at the London Borough of Brent – one of the UK’s most diverse areas and now London Borough of Culture 2020.

Hakeem has overseen Brent’s ALMO being brought back in-house and has since embarked on transforming how housing services are delivered in the multicultural borough, which is home to Wembley Stadium.

As well as being responsible for maximising the delivery of affordable housing in the borough – delivering 6,000 new homes in the next five years – Hakeem is responsible for other services such as Homelessness and Allocations and Private Sector Housing services, which includes landlord licensing, property standards enforcement, empty property grants and adaptations – and the management of the Council’s own housing stock of around 12,500 homes.

Passionate about social housing, gaining insight to people’s needs and exploring innovative ways to deliver services, Hakeem has a Master’s degree in Housing and an MPA from the University of Birmingham. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Janice Morphet is an independent researcher, Visiting Professor in the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London and is a Design Council Built Environment Expert. Janice was a member of the Planning Committee of the London 2012 Olympic Games. She was a Senior Adviser on local government at DCLG 2000-2005, having been Chief Executive of Rutland CC, Director of Technical Services at Woking, and Professorial Head of the School of Planning and Landscape at Birmingham Polytechnic. Janice has been a trustee of the RTPI and TCPA.

Amelie is an Investment Director at Big Society Capital, the leading financial institution dedicated to social impact investment in the UK. She leads Big Society Capitals’ sourcing & investment in impact property funds, including temporary, specialist supported and general needs social & affordable housing.

John is Managing Director of Resonance’s Property Funds. He is an investment professional with experience of corporate transactions (mergers, acquisitions, buyouts etc.), across a number of corporate and investment banking roles. John joined Resonance is 2012 and has been responsible for the successful development, deployment and management of Resonance’s seven existing impact property funds over the past decade.

John is Managing Director of Resonance’s Property Funds. He is an investment professional with experience of corporate transactions (mergers, acquisitions, buyouts etc.), across a number of corporate and investment banking roles. John joined Resonance is 2012 and has been responsible for the successful development, deployment and management of Resonance’s seven existing impact property funds over the past decade.

David Ashmore has been the Director of Housing Services at Manchester City Council, since July 2021 and has led the successful integration of the ALMO into the Council as well spearheading the City’s Homelessness Service.  David has led the development of Manchester’s A Place Called Home strategy whose mission is to ensure that a warm, safe and sustainable home is a reality for Manchester residents rather than an aspiration.

Prior to joining Manchester, David was the Director of Housing and Transformation at Coventry City Council, leading the significant service improvement of the Homelessness Service (LGC Team of the Year) and a host of resident facing change programmes, as well as many aspects of the City’s response to Covid. 

David cut his directorial teeth at the London Borough of Lambeth, leading a wide range of award winning corporate and resident services.  David began his local government career in the deeply analogue year of 1990.

David works as CEO for Habitat for Humanity GB Homes in the UK, developing the charitable business along with other senior management at HFH Great Britain. He is an experienced chartered architect with close to 25 years design and project management experience in private, commercial, and voluntary sectors. He has worked at detailed and strategic levels on a wide range of development projects and finds the catalytic power of these projects and enabling roles very rewarding. His main aim is to use his gifts and abilities to help others in society to access better living conditions and community resources.

Omar Al-Hasso is the Managing Director of Phi Capital Investments, with over 20 years’ experience in housing delivery. He is a Chartered Surveyor (Investment and Finance) and holds an MSc in Property Investment from the College of Estate Management. Within the business, Omar leads on bridging the communication and thinking gaps between the public sector and the private sector. Completely committed to finding a better way of doing things, he believes that through collaborative partnerships the affordable housing crisis can genuinely be solved. Last year, Omar led the process of helping Phi become a fully Certified B Corporation, cementing Phi’s commitment to using business as a force for good.

Dan has twenty years’ local government experience, for London boroughs and two Mayors of London, and currently leads Kensington and Chelsea’s work on housing and property.  This includes building the borough’s first new council homes in a generation; the development of a new ‘social investment’ approach to municipal assets; and the wider transformation of services, strategy and culture following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Before that, Dan was Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning at Haringey Council; Head of the London 2012 team at the Greater London Authority; and former Mayor Ken Livingstone’s senior advisor on planning and development. 

Anne is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Corporate Treasurer. She has worked in Housing for over ten years at senior level. Before working in Housing, Anne worked in manufacturing for a number of organisations from SME to Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 – latterly as Finance Director for De la Rue in their Currency and Supply Chain division.

Steve has been working in local government for 20 years, beginning as a trainee accountant at Leicester City Council. He has then worked for Local authorities at District and Unitary level, as well as spending time in the Higher Education and Charity sectors in various roles looking after a wide range of services, leading on a variety of strategic and operational projects, including social housing and regeneration.

A highly regarded and well-known expert in the sector, Jonathan has worked in local government for more than 20 years, including seven years as strategic director at London Borough of Barking & Dagenham and the creator of B&D Reside, the council’s affordable housing company. Jonathan continues to support councils on the development and delivery of affordable housing and regeneration schemes. He has been a board member of Barnsbury Housing Association since 2017.

Julie has a wealth of experience in both housing and homelessness. Having studied social housing at De Montfort University, Julie has established a successful career in the sector, with roles at Harvest Housing Group, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Birmingham City Council, where latterly she served as Strategic Director of Housing. With a passion for breaking down barriers to build up people and better homes, Julie is a tremendous advocate for supported housing.

Appointed as Chief Executive of North Staffordshire based Honeycomb Group in December 2022, Julie now leads a number of brands that champion happy homes. The Group, comprised of the housing association, Staffs Housing, domestic abuse charity, Glow, independent living experts, Revival, and homelessness charity, Concrete, is a leading provider in the region. Last year the charities alone engaged 8,310 children, young people, adults, and families as well as 1,164 professionals in activities that focused on helping people across Staffordshire and its surrounds feel secure, connected, and confident.

Prior to becoming an MP, Bob was a prominent member of local government, leading the Conservative group at Brent Council and sitting on the London Assembly. Bob was elected into Parliament in 2010, representing the constituency of Harrow East. Since joining Parliament he has had a strong focus on the housing and homelessness sector, being a longstanding member of the LUHC Select Committee, chairing the APPG for Building Communities and the APPG for Ending Homelessness. In 2010, he brought about the Homelessness Reduction Act through his Private Members Bill, seeking to ensure local authorities had a duty to help prevent everyone from becoming homeless. He has since been chosen again in the Private Members Bill ballot, putting forward the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill just this year. This bill focuses on ensuring that exempt accommodation does not take tenants for granted and provides an appropriate level of care for its vulnerable users.

An experienced and passionate green finance specialist, Emma Harvey-Smith leads the Green Finance Institute’s built environment programme. Since joining the GFI in 2019, Emma has chaired the 400+ member Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings (CEEB), and now oversees a multi-strand programme that catalyses green home finance markets through place-based partnerships, industry collaborations, and strategy engagement with HM Government.

Emma previously worked across several areas within Barclays Bank including product development, portfolio management and corporate debt structuring. Throughout this period she championed the green finance agenda, supporting the bank’s first green bond issuance and pioneering the Barclays’ green home mortgage.

Alison joined Turner & Townsend as Associate Director, directly from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy where she worked on policy and delivery within the Government Major Project Portfolio as:

• Technical lead on the £1.1bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
• BEIS Programme Manager for the Technical Assistance Facilities within the Net Zero Buildings portfolio.

She has 18 years’ experience in technical and infrastructure fields including energy, sustainability and the design and leadership of technical programmes across private, charity and public sectors. She has lead teams across design, policy and strategy development, project execution planning, programme management and contract management.

Alison has spent many years in technical roles within communications, smart technologies and building thermal performance and is passionate about the need for data and innovation within retrofit design and delivery.

John Boughton is a social historian, the author of two books, Municipal Dreams: the Rise and Fall of Council Housing (Verso, 2018) and A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates (RIBA Books, 2022). He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the School of Architecture of the University of Liverpool and blogs at municipaldreams.wordpress.com.  

Kwajo Tweneboa, a 24-year-old activist from south London, uses social media to give a voice to social housing tenants and expose the derelict living conditions that many are forced to endure. After publicly shaming his housing association into carrying out repairs on his family’s flat after a year of inaction, Kwajo has travelled the country putting pressure on politicians and social housing providers to improve living standards. 

Cara joined RF in January 2023 to focus on housing, having previously worked at the Foundation from 2019 – 2021. Her previous roles have also included working on fiscal risks and sustainability at the Office for Budget Responsibility and in Markets & Banking at the Bank of England.